


Carnation

by Dusklatte



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Dedue is a sweet boi who deserves the world for how much he helps out, F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Flowers, Fluff, Language of Flowers, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Requited love but they kinda just??? slip it in there???, Sylvain knows the meanings of flowers for the sake of flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-10-18 15:20:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20641334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dusklatte/pseuds/Dusklatte
Summary: After about two months away from Garreg Mach, many of the flowers Byleth had planted had wilted. Some never even bloomed in the first place.The only exception was a dark red carnation.





	Carnation

**Author's Note:**

> Alternative title: Dedue gets Byleth a plant pot which leads to her confessing to Sylvain, making Dedue tonight's biggest wingman

The grounds of Garreg Mach were mostly quiet, after the Kingdom Army had returned following a stint in Faerghus where they had recovered Fhirdiad from the grasps of the Imperial Army. That had further been followed by a brisk journey to Derdriu in Alliance territory to battle more of the Imperials at Claude’s request, to prevent Alliance territory becoming held by the Empire.

Soon, they were to be advancing into Empire lands. To confront Edelgard. They were biding their time, planning, preparing and waiting for the right time to begin their move.

As with past occasions they were in Garreg Mach, some days were set aside for spare time – one of the few opportunities key members of the army such as Byleth and Dimitri had a chance to do something to wind down and forget about the current state of affairs.

On her rest day, Byleth had ended up in the greenhouse with Dedue. She had gone to tend to some flowers she had planted before they left for Fhirdiad. What she wished for the most was for the flowers to be at least budding, if not blooming. No expenses had been spared on the cultivation of the flowers…

But sadly, that had not been the case. Despite everything she had done to help the flowers, they were brown and wilted. It had turned out that nearby plants had absorbed all of the nutrients, and leaved from some of the bigger plants had concealed them from the sunlight which they craved.

Only one flower had reached the point that it was thriving – a lone carnation.

“Professor… Do not worry about your flowers. It is an achievement to have been able to grow one, especially considering that we have mostly been absent for the past few months,” Dedue stated, resting a hand on her shoulder as she crouched down by the flowers with a pout on her face. “The flower which has bloomed does look spectacular. However, if it remains in this area for much longer, it may end up like the others you planted.”

Byleth sighed, and gently reached out for the lone flower. Her fingers gently cupped the petals, before she pulled her hands away. “I wish that I had somewhere else to plant it. The majority of the space here in the greenhouse is for the growing of fruit and vegetables, or the conservation of rare plant species...”

A thoughtful smile formed on Dedue’s face as he left the greenhouse, leaving Byleth to do what she needed to in regards to the dead plants which required uprooting.

When she realised that she was alone, she went and found a pair of gloves to stop the soil from covering her hands, before she started using a spade to dig up the flowers surrounding the carnation. She didn’t like that she was having to remove something she had hoped would be successful… It felt like one of the few ways she could honour her parents.

Though she had rarely heard Jeralt speak of her mother when he was alive, she knew one thing in particular about her – she spent a lot of her time admiring flowers. She even volunteered in this very greenhouse before she had been born. Some of the older, longer-living plants here may have been planted by her mother.

Byleth felt that spending time in the greenhouse like this was her one way of bonding with her mother, aside from visiting the grave she shared with her father.

What did comfort her about the plants dying, however, was that they would be composted. Soon, these flowers which were unable to bloom would be aiding others in sprouting. It was a lovely way to think about things, actually. Even when dead, they had an impact on another.

Once the flowers had been discarded into the composting bin, she returned her attention to the carnation which remained.

Its petals were red – a vividly deep red… And as usual for carnations, the petals appeared rough around the edges, and they were all ruffled and wild. It all added to the beauty of the flower. It actually reminded her of someone in the army. A certain heir to House Gautier, to be specific.

But that quickly left her mind – the smell of some sort of dish cooking in the dining hall began to overpower the aroma of the plants in the greenhouse. She considered staying where she was for a few minutes longer, but her stomach growled in refusal.

She was going to have to eat before she continued to look at the flower, and debate what she did with it.

* * *

* * *

Sylvain was delighted with the menu options in the dining hall. Well, in particular, the dessert menu. A lot of the food for the main meal was basic – boiled vegetables with boiled meats, blanched fish, and some sort of combination of it all, labelled as a stew. Basically, everything was bland and watery.

The dessert menu had been the only saving grace for tonight’s meal. Berry sorbets, caramelised fruits, and even some sort of unique concoction which combined tea and cakes – it was actually one of the nicest things he had ate since the war against the empire.

What Sylvain had noticed as he was savouring every last mouthful of his cake, accompanied with a cup of his favourite bergamot tea, was that Dedue had something tucked away to his side as he ate. He had subtly tried to cast a glance towards the item to try and figure out what it was, and had even used the time he went to collect a second serving of cake to try and sneak a peek.

It was only once he had finished his dessert that he had given up trying to be secretly curious.

“Hey, Dedue? The suspense is killing me here – what on earth have you got with you? You look like you’re hiding it away and I _really _want to know what it is.”

Dedue raised an eyebrow as he reached for some salt and pepper which was on the tables, before adding some to his bowl of stew. Sylvain was gobsmacked that he hadn’t thought of something so simple to save his tastebuds from the taste of nothing. But that wasn’t the situation at hand – the mystery object was.

“It was not my intention to act as though this was something I needed to hide, Sylvain,” Dedue explained as he took a spoonful of his stew. “If anything, I was concealing it so that it won’t be damaged. There are some… particularly clumsy people within our ranks. Some of which in this room at this very moment.”

Sylvain didn’t have to take any hints with regard to who he was talking about, he could clearly see Annette apologising for spilling what looked like boiled cabbage on some of the sorbet selection at the end of the room.

Sylvain shifted up the bench that he was sat on so that he was opposite the man of Duscur. “So… what is it then?”

“A plant pot. I recalled seeing one not in use amongst our supplies, and the Professor is in great need of one. I will be taking this to her once I have ate.”

“Oh, is she doing some gardening?”

“Yes. She is a bit upset about some plants she has grown, however. Only one flower survived the time we have been away from Garreg Mach, and it will die if not moved from where it is currently planted in the greenhouse.”

Sylvain couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Byleth getting hands on and dirty in the greenhouse. It’s something he could easily imagine her doing, and greatly enjoying. Despite the fact that she still was quite awkward when it comes to using her emotions.

“Ah, that makes sense. Well, I guess I’ll leave you to it then. Sorry for disturbing you, Dedue. I just really wanted to know what you had, and now I know.” He stood up, and gathered all of his empty dishes together so that he could return them to the kitchens to be cleaned.

After that, he decided to retire for the night. That cake had _really _hit his stomach, and it felt rather unsettled. Like hell he was going to do training with both Felix and Dimitri like this. They probably wouldn’t even notice his absence.

As he left the room, that was when Byleth arrived from the greenhouse.

* * *

* * *

Byleth had been grateful for the plant pot she had been given by Dedue. Even more grateful for his advice for making the stew she had decided to eat actually have flavour with the help of salt and pepper.

She had successfully moved the carnation from the communal flowerbeds to the pot, and had made sure to provide it some more nutrients, soil, and water. Now, however, came another difficulty.

_She had no idea what to do with the flower._

At first, she had considered placing it at her parents’ grave. She had changed her mind about that, as it was very windy there. The pot would fall over and smash, allowing the flower to die before morning could even come around. She also considered having it in her room, but unfortunately, she didn’t have much space – it was partially being used as a variety of other rooms at the same time as her bedroom, from her study, to the room where they held war councils, to even securing supplies. It was… far from ideal.

Her next logical step was to offer the flower to Dedue, who had been so useful with keeping the flower alive… However, his room neighboured hers. It was also being used for storage, even more than her room was, because officially, Dedue had been executed five years ago before his reappearance at the Great Bridge of Myrddin.

So… she was clueless. She wished for the flower to thrive, and live as long as it possibly could. It would be impossible in the greenhouse, so she couldn’t even keep it there.

Eventually though, a gentle smile formed on her face. She had a sudden idea, and there was potential of it working out extremely well if the flower continued to be cared for.

With haste, she held the plant pot and the flower close to her chest, and made her way towards the stairs which led up to the second floor of dormitories. She didn’t often go up there, but she had still made a point of memorising which room belonged to who when she was a professor at the Officer’s Academy. Some rooms were abandoned – they had belonged to students who had been members of the Golden Deer and Black Eagle Houses. Other rooms were still occupied, mostly those belonged to Blue Lions students, and current members of the Kingdom Army. There were obviously some exceptions though, as people such as Lorenz, who had joined the army recently after his life had been spared, had also continued to use their rooms when they arrived.

Eventually, she reached the door she knew very well. She had visited often as a professor, normally to remove any women who had ended up in there with a desire to scream and yell at the student who lived in there about his infidelity.

Fortunately, her recent visits had been much less about cheating, and more about getting to know the student-turned-knight over a cup of bergamot tea.

She gently tapped her knuckle against the door, and it creaked open slightly. Either it hadn’t been locked, or the lock was broken. She peered her head in, and smiled when the person she had been longing to see was there, sat upon his bed.

“Sylvain? Can I come in? I want to ask you something. Or, uh… give you something.” Their eyes locked for a second, before Sylvain returned her smile. She took that as permission to enter, so she moved the plant pot to behind her back and stepped inside. “I’m sorry for visiting this late...”

He kept the grin on his face as he walked over to her, and pushed the door shut. “Don’t worry about how late it is, if anything, it gives me an excuse for not being at training with Felix and Dimitri right about now...” He laughed dejectedly, despite his smile, before turning to face her. “So… what did you need me for, at this hour of the night, Professor? You know that people might get ideas with you coming in and out of my room at this time, after all.”

Byleth sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you all that you don’t have to call me ‘Professor’ any more? I’m no teacher. I never really was one in the first place!” But she was quick to push that aside. “I want to know if you can help me out with something. I’ve, ah… been in the greenhouse this afternoon.”

“I heard about that from Dedue, he had a plant pot which he wanted to give you in the dining hall? Did you get that?”

“I did… I wanted to put a flower I started growing into it, as it would die if it stayed in the greenhouse. And I can’t put it in my room either. There’s almost nowhere the flower could go to keep it alive...”

Sylvain couldn’t quite believe just how sad Byleth sounded over the unfortunate circumstances of the flower. It actually… made him feel a bit sad too. Not over the flower though, just the thought of Byleth being sad was what got him.

“So, I have something I want to ask of you...” She then pulled the plant pot and the flower out from behind her back. “Can… Can I give you the flower to look after? It doesn’t need much tending to, just the occasional watering, and being kept in the sunlight during the day.”

_Hah, that was funny. He almost thought that she was asking him to look after her-_

_Oh. _

_Wait._

_She actually was._

“You want… _me _to look after your flower?” He raised his eyebrow in confusion, but still took hold of the pot from her outstretched arms. “Surely there are others more suited to caring for your flower...”

“Nope. Only you can do it for me, Sylvain. It only makes sense that a man with such flowery language gets to look after my flower.”

Sylvain chuckled, and shook his head. “Oh Byleth, you flatter me. Nice to know that someone thinks I’ve still got that touch in my words.” He winked, before looking at the flower. “Is this a few day thing, or…?”

“As long as the flower lives.”

“I-” Sylvain looked at the flower, and sighed. He couldn’t deny her, after all. She would become sad again, and he well and truly _hated _that, especially if he was the one behind her sadness. “Okay then, I’ll look after it for you.” He then looked at the flower for a moment, trying to think of what it was. He had _extensively _studied flowers and the language of flowers when he was younger, trying to find out how best to woo a woman with a bouquet.

Then his heart began to race.

“H- Hey… Byleth… Do you know what this flower is, and what it means?”

“It’s a carnation, but I don’t know its meaning… I don’t think that flowers have meanings, do they? Other than lilies being seen as holy because the Archbishop wears them, and roses being romantic?”

Sylvain took a deep breath as he placed the plant pot down on his desk, and raked a hand through his hair. “Yep, it is certainly a carnation… Different coloured carnations have different meanings though. For example, white carnations mean innocence… red carnations mean love. But dark red ones like this one?” He began to feel his face heat up when he realised that Byleth was now looking a bit flustered. “They stand for loving _deeply. _Adoration. Affection...”

The pair stood in silence for at least half a minute then, their faces a similar shade of red to the potted plant. Byleth broke the silence with a deep breath.

“Then… I guess that I’ve absolutely chosen the right person to give it to then…” She then took a step backward, her hair falling into her face as she turned around. “I’ll see you at the training meeting tomorrow morning, Sylvain...”

Without a further word, Byleth left the stunned Sylvain alone in his room, and closed the door behind her. His mouth was wide open, the sort of face Ingrid would lecture him about, saying that he would ‘catch flies’ if he kept his face as it was.

Slowly he approached his door, and locked it. His head then proceeded to fall against it in disbelief. She had innocently gone to ask him to look after her flower, and it had ended… with her revealing how she felt about him? And left before he could respond to something so surprising yet not shocking in the slightest?

His eyes then glanced towards the flower, and a faint smile crept onto his face.

“She actually likes me...”

**Author's Note:**

> Tbh I actually got this idea because I was after Sylvain's A support level in my current Golden Deer playthrough (because I want to S Support him in it rather than go for Claude... again....) and I had no activity points and the only gift I had to give was a carnation so... I gifted it to Sylvain and whaddya know, I could get his A support~


End file.
